Originally posted by: broon
Originally posted by: Pablo
Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
Also it sounds like the OP is just jealous he doesn't get to wear one.
That's what I was thinking. I flew satellites from an earth station and a flight suit was part of my uniform. I also received a leather flight jacket. Anyone who didn't work in OPS was pissed because they didn't get the uniforms. But they didn't want to work 24x7 either.
Finally scanned this thread after forgetting about it.
I actually have a flightsuit because I was assigned to a flying unit for two years, and it was one of the perks of being in the squadron. I wore it when I flew on our planes a few times (KC-135), and it's quite convenient for flying especially since it's easy to ventilate by unzipping the top. For flying, I have no problem with aircrew wearing flightsuits, considering that it's also a safety issue with the Nomex. It sits in my closet now, and I'll probably strip the rank off and use it for gardening later.
To the author above, you're a space geek that wears a flightsuit for GOD KNOWS WHY. Now, the space geeks even have their own "wings", which is just so sad that I cannot even begin to comprehend the gap in logic that created that mess. I've since talked with some space folks who are embarrassed by the "pilot wannabe" mentality which seems to pervade the space ops community. Sorry, but it's pathetic. Jealousy? More like pity. Pilots have their traditions going back to WWI, which I can respect especially since the Air Force in particular is not very big on tradition. Instead of trying to hijack the pilot traditions, why not establish your own? Or, just do the job and don't look for outward signs of belonging. How's the SBIRS coming along?
To lay one argument to rest, the duty uniform of the vast majority of the Air Force is the BDU, as someone points out above. I wear it everyday even though I work a desk and always will, but guess what? I paid for it, and it's comfortable and durable (two things that cannot be said for blues). Predator operators are perfectly capable of wearing the BDU to work just like every other person in the Air Force who doesn't have a specialized duty uniform that is required by their job (ie., like maintenance coveralls).
I have a hard time believing that the flightsuit is only $130 given what I know about government contracting and considering that the BDU costs nearly $60, and I know for a fact that they do NOT last for five years, as someone alleges. The aircrew I worked with for two years went through a flightsuit at least every year. Of course, unlike fighter pilots, they wore them for longer than an hour or two (sorry, Eaglekeeper
).Curious addendum: The Air Force just nixed plans to create a separate UAV operator AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code), since right now actual pilots from other airframes fly UAVs for a three year tour then go back to their regular airframes. Instead of a two year training regimen, it would have been 6 months. Plus, instead of having brand new operators every two years, the operators would be able to build on past experience and establish some sort of corporate knowledge. I guess the pilot community felt a little threatened by having a separate cadre of officers performing operational missions who weren't part of the "mafia".
Facebook
Twitter